“Oh, you found something really cool!” refuge manager Kim Calcagno said as she led children and parents on a search for animal and bird tracks, and other signs of wildlife. “This is an egg case of a praying mantis [or, an “ootheca”]. The little praying mantises will chew their way out …”

In the trees, they spotted a bag-shaped oriole nest. They heard the “chick-a-dee-dee-dee” of a black-capped chickadee. They found ragged chew marks on broken branches, made by browsing deer. A crow feather on the ground. A fallen log where a beetle had laid her eggs.

Ian Treen, 6, exulted as he bent down to examine a shrub. “This one has a tiny leaf!” he said, fingering a bit of green that had refused to yield to winter.

His mother, Morgan Devlin, said they live in the city, and programs such as this teach “an appreciation of nature and animals, and why it’s important to protect them.” She said Ian “wants to be a detective,” and hunting for signs of wildlife “fits right in.”

The trail walk followed Calcagno’s indoor presentation on “track patterns of native mammals and birds” — including a display of rubber animal footprints — and other telltale signs of wildlife.

Calcagno explained the distinction between the “galloping” tracks of cottontail rabbits, mice and squirrels; the “bounding” tracks of mink or weasels; the lopsided footprints of “waddlers” such as beavers, bears, raccoons and wild turkeys; and the perfect linear steps of coyotes, bobcats and domestic cats and dogs.

But beyond the tracks, “all different things tell us that animals have been here,” Calcagno said.

Rub marks on the trees. The pecked “typewriter” rows left by the yellow-bellied sapsucker. Feathers or antlers left behind. Chew marks on the antlers. Owl pellets: the regurgitated, undigested remnants of an owl meal.

And poop.

“Nobody can get away from talking about poop,” Calcagno said. [Her young — but evidently mature — audience barely squirmed]. There’s a lot to learn from poop, more properly — animal scat, or insect frass.

“Fox poop is very pinched at the end. And they always put it out in the open,” she said, describing a “hey, look-at-me” display behavior. Sometimes, it might have berries or insects or feathers in it.

The children made plaster animal tracks to take home: keepsake reminders of what — and where — the wild things are.

The Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge, the Audubon Society of Rhode Island’s state headquarters, generally offers the tracking program at least once a year, for children and adults.

Calcagno said for visitors on their own, “anytime there’s a fresh snow or muddy weather is the perfect time to visit and look for tracks.”